News

Statement on behalf of the Baltic States at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Monday, 6 February 2023. 

Madam President,

I am speaking on behalf of the Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and my own country Estonia. I thank the Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths for his briefing. Let me also extend our thanks to all the United Nations agencies for their relentless work to ease the immense suffering of the Ukrainian people due to Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion that started nearly twelve months ago.

It is hard to overstate the heavy humanitarian toll the Russian full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, aided by Belarus, has had on the people of Ukraine.

Month after month we have witnessed appalling levels of destruction as Russia has indiscriminately attacked civilians and civilian infrastructure, and reduced entire cities, towns and villages to rubble, causing death, displacement and human suffering. The Russian forces are systematically and deliberately shelling and destroying energy and water supplies. Ukrainians have been left in the freezing cold, deprived of shelter, light, heat, and safe drinking water.  Russia has caused the biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War, forcing millions of people to flee their homes, of which over 8 million have sought protection across Europe.

The effects of Russia’s invasion on Ukrainian children has been especially appalling and will have long-lasting effects. Thousands of children have been separated from their families and deported to Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine. We echo the words of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that giving nationality and opening avenues for formal adoption of children in a situation of conflict violates international norms and practices. Russia must stop these illegal practices immediately and ensure that these children – some of whose parents have been killed by Russia’s strikes or murdered by their troops – are safely returned to Ukraine, to their families and loved-ones.

We are deeply troubled by the risks of sexual violence and human trafficking that unaccompanied displaced children are exposed to. Credible allegations indicate that rape is being used as a weapon of war by the Russian forces in Ukraine, including against children. We underline the need for the UN to continue monitoring and reporting on conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine. For those who have suffered from such crimes, we must re-double our efforts to provide them with the necessary and comprehensive services, including physical protection and psychological support.

We remain highly concerned about the reported mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian Armed Forces, as well as by Russia’s paramilitary “Wagner” group. We demand that Russia stops these illegal acts and treats Ukrainian prisoners of war in full conformity with international humanitarian law. Russia must provide the ICRC with immediate and unconditional access to all Ukrainian prisoners of war.

It is imperative to continue documenting and properly storing evidence of all atrocity crimes committed throughout Ukraine. There must be no impunity for Russia’s crimes in Ukraine at all levels. We strongly support the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which unleashed all the war crimes and crimes against humanity that followed. The people who decided to wage this illegal war against Ukraine cannot go unpunished.

Madam President,

We approach the tragic one-year anniversary of the start of the Russia’s war of aggression in Europe with the hope that this anniversary will also be the last one, and that in 2023 we will see the end of this brutal war. The way to peace has to be just and based on respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity consistent with the UN Charter and international law. What is at stake is not just Ukraine’s and its nation’s existence but the survival of the international rules-based order and the UN Charter. If we let this aggression succeed, the global consequences will be much worse.  

This is why Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania strongly support President Zelenskyy’s vision for peace in his 10-point peace formula that is based on the UN Charter and international law. If we want a just and sustainable peace, it is time the UN community supports this vision and starts its implementation.